Antler-Handlers
by Blue Tagg
Summary: Judy's neighbours, Bucky and Pronk, wake up in the middle of the night to see that one of their antlers have been cut off. Nick and Judy will have to figure out who.
1. Annoying Neighbors

**A.N. Hello readers and Happy New Year, Blue Tagg here with a new story. In this story, someone is slicing off the antlers of mammals while their sleeping, so Nick and Judy are on the case. What will happen?**

 **I do not own Zootopia, or its characters, their property of Disney.**

 **Don't forget to leave a review, enjoy.**

* * *

Another day in Zootopia, or was it? There was something going on. In an unknown place, a chubby cheetah was taking cover. That cheetah was Officer Benjamin Clawhauser, and he was wearing a breast plate and a strange pistol in his paws. From his eyes, it seemed that everything was slowing down amongst the chaos that was happening.

"Nnniiiiiiiickkk!" Clawhauser screamed in what felt like slow-motion. "Nick, where are you!?"

From somewhere else, a fox named Officer Nicholas Wilde, who was wearing the same breast plate and laser, was also taking cover. He heard Clawhauser's call.

"I don't know!" Nick cried out in response. "I lost Chief Bogo!"

"What about the others!?" Clawhauser cried out.

"It's just us and Bogo now!" Nick replied. It appeared that they were facing someone dangerous. "She's everywhere!"

"You can do it Nick!" Clawhauser encouraged him. "You're the only one able to beat her!"

Nick then took a deep breath, and moved from his hiding spot, aiming the gun in his paws

"Aaaaaaaaahhhh!" Nick war cried as he started shooting.

But the minute he got out, his breast plate began to flash a red colour. A bunny in front of him with a gun in her paw.

"Oh, come on!" Nick whined as his breast plate flashed. He looked at the rabbit, who was both his partner on the force and his girlfriend, Judy Hopps.

"Guess you're out Slick," Judy taunted him. Nick could simply roll his eyes.

"She got me," Nick informed Clawhauser, who was still hiding.

"I got you now!" Clawhauser stated as he came out of his hiding spot doing a war cry while shooting Judy with his gun, which was actually shooting lights. But, Clawhauser's breast plate flashed red. Nick pointed behind him and he turned around to see Judy again, pretending to blow smoke off her laser.

"What… weren't you just?" Clawhauser and Nick where moving their head back and forth to where Judy was just standing, to where she's standing now.

"Never underestimate how quick a bunny is," Judy boasted.

Just then, Chief Bogo arrived with a gun and breast plate as well.

"You guys as well?" Bogo asked Nick and Clawhauser. They both nodded in confirmation. Then Bogo attempted to blast Judy, but she tucked and rolled to the side and blasted him, which made his breast plate light up.

"Dang it," Bogo said as he pouted. "Your good Hopps."

"I know," Judy replied about herself.

Just then a female tiger with another laser and breast plate came. She was Officer Theresa Prowlson.

After she showed up, an alarm went off, and everyone knew what that meant.

"Games over," Judy pointed out.

"And the girls win," Prowlson boasted as she high fived Judy.

* * *

The ZPD were having a charity laser tag tournament. They decided that it would be Boys vs Girls, and it was clear who won. Everyone was out in front of the ZPD Precinct 1.

"I told you us girls would win," Prowlson gloated. She then grabbed Judy and hoisted her up in the air. "All thanks to our secret weapon here."

"Honestly Hopps, how did you beat us so easily?" Bogo asked her.

"Guess it's just skills," Judy said modestly as the girls lifted her up in the air, much to the boy's dismay.

"Anyway, great game out there!" Bogo commended everyone. "We've managed to make it to our target." Everybody cheered with delight. "Now, I want everybody back in work tomorrow as usual."

Everyone agreed and where chatting amongst themselves, until Officer Daniel Mchorn looked at his watch.

"Oooh, I must go, taking my mother for her foot scraping," Mchorn said as he was getting ready to leave.

"Foot scraping?" Judy asked.

"It's something done for us rhinos, elephants and hippo's. The doctor uses a power tool to scrape the crust off the bottom of their nasty feet," Mchorn explained, which made everybody discussed.

"That's probably the most disgusting thing I've ever heard," Judy said as her ears dropped.

"I wouldn't rub those feet, even if a genie popped out," Nick said trying to be humours. Some of the officers chuckled, while some were still disgusted. But one of the officer's, Officer Francine Pennington, looked more nervous.

"Yeah, disgusting," Pennington said with a hint of embarrassment.

* * *

A few hours later, Judy was in her small apartment in her pink pyjamas. She had just finished a nice meal and was now getting her phone out. She hit a few buttons and the phone was ringing. Just then on the screen, her parents, Stu Hopps, who was wearing a white and green flannel shirt, blue overalls and a baseball cap with a carrot on it. And Bonnie Hopps, who was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and long blue skirt.

"Hey mom, hey dad," Judy said to her parents as she saw them.

"Hey Bun-Bun," Bonnie greeted he as they saw their daughter.

"Hey there Jude," Stu said to her as well. "How was that game today?"

"It was fun. And the girls won!" Judy boasted, much to Stu and Bonnie's amusement's, but before they could continue, a loud voice was heard from the room next door. It was her loud neighbours, Bucky and Pronk Oryx-Anderson

"YOU SHURE SHOWED THEM!" Bucky yelled through the wall.

"LEAVE HER ALONE, SHE'S IN THE MIDDLE OF A PRIVATE CONVERSATION!" Pronk yelled at Bucky. They then went into their usual,

"OH, SHUT UP!"

"YOU SHUT UP!"

They continued, much to Judy's annoyance.

"Those two still at it again?" Stu asked.

"You have no idea," Judy said irritated.

After talking with her parents and waiting for her neighbours to calm down, Judy went to bed.

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Judy was fast asleep, until someone screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the screaming continued.

It woke Judy up and she heard yelling from next door. She looked at her clock to see it was 3:42 in the morning. Now, she was angry.

"That's it!" Judy exclaimed as she angrily got out of bed. She then grabbed her phone and walked out of her room and walked to next door. As Judy walked out, some of the other neighbours were also standing outside, looking irritated. Judy then marched over to next door and started knocking on the door.

"You better have a good reason for waking everybody up!" Judy said as she angrily knocked. She then heard them unlocking to door. "As a member of the ZPD, I could have you arrested for disturbing the…" the door was widely opened, and Judy saw something that shocked her. "…peace?"

There stood Bucky and Pronk but, something was different about them. They both had one antler missing.

"Our antlers," Buck whimpered.

Judy was so shocked. She then slowly pressed some numbers on her phone and held it to her ear.

"Um, this is Officer Hopps?" Judy awkwardly said, not knowing how to explain this.

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the first chapter. So, Bucky and Pronk's antlers have been cut off. Looks like Nick and Judy will have to handle it.**


	2. Disappeared Antlers

**A.N. Hello everybody, Blue Tagg here with the second chapter of Antler-Handlers. Here, Nick and Judy will ask Bucky and Pronk what happened.**

 **Before we begin, I just want to make a few declarations to two reviewers. Venomheart the Dreamer, you should wait till other chapters before you degrade if their plausible. And Guest, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I do not appreciate foul language in the comment section.**

 **Anyway, here's the second chapter. Don't forget to leave a review.**

* * *

At the Grand Pangolin Arm Apartments, an ambulance was waiting outside with Bucky and Pronk waiting in the back, being checked on by a wolf and leopard doctors. Judy was outside with them in her uniform, with Nick standing right next to her.

"So, repeat what happened," Judy asked them as she was writing down notes.

"Okay, we went to bed as usual," Bucky began explaining. "Me and Pronk went to bed as normal. I woke up in the middle of the night, needing the bathroom. So, I got up and made my way to the door half asleep. It wasn't until I past the mirror that I noticed my antler was missing, but I was half asleep, so I thought it was a dream."

"That's when I woke up and noticed Bucky's antler," Pronk began to explain. "I was fully awake this time. I snapped Bucky out of his sleepy state and we fully grasped what happened."

"And I know the rest," Judy said as she took down notes.

Just then an aardwolf came up to them, wearing a red jumper over a white collared shirt, grey trousers, and a blue jacket and taking off black rubber gloves. This was Marcus Arderson, CSI of precinct one.

"I checked the apartment," Marcus began to explain. "It's defiant that it was a breaking and entering. But the funny thing is, the bottom part of the window sill was sliced."

"How's that funny?" Nick asked.

"Because the blade swipe on the metal lock and the wood was perfectly smooth, like a normal knife on a piece of paper," Marcus further explained.

"What kind of blade could do that?" Nick asked.

"That's the thing, I don't know," Marcus said honestly. "I'll need to take the broken window sill to my lab for further analysis."

"That's alright and all," Pronk said sounding casual. "BUT WHAT ABOUT US!" He referenced to him and his mates chopped off antlers. The wolf approached them.

"Well, after checking the broken area," the wolf said to everyone. "We could tell that the antlers were sliced off in one stroke." Marcus went up to them and checked to broken areas.

"Just like the window sill, the antlers were sliced off,

"But, they should grow back in time," the cheetah doctor explained, much to Bucky and Pronk's relief. "But, it will take four to five weeks, and it will be a bit painful." That just made them more nervous.

"So, someone broke into Bucky and Pronk's apartment, just to steal one of their antlers?" Nick put together.

"That's about right," Judy confirmed. "But why?"

"There could be a number of reasons," Nick said. He then turned to Bucky and Pronk. "Have either of you gave someone a reason to hate you?"

The two looked at each other in confusion and turned back to the rabbit and fox and shrugged.

"I can think of a few people," Judy muttered as she stared at her apartment building. "Have any of you noticed anything unusual about your day yesterday?"

The two took a moment to think.

"Not that we could think off," Bucky started off. "Yesterday, we both went to our jobs, then shopping, then home."

"Anyway, we'll make sure we find out who did this." Judy reassured the two.

"Thank you, Judy," Bucky said. "Even though we never apologise."

Just then the leopard doctor approached them.

"We're gonna take them to the hospital now to have further observation," the doctor explained, which Bucky and Pronk agreed.

They got into the ambulance, but before the doors could close…

"This is your fault, you know," Bucky said, much to Pronk's surprise.

"My fault!?" Pronk exclaimed.

Once the doors closed they heard mumbling of them arguing. And when the ambulance was leaving, there was mumbling…

"You shut up!", "You shut up!", "You shut up!"

Nick and Judy were just standing there listening as the ambulance left. Once it left, they just shook their heads.

"They should consider couples counselling," Nick casually said, which Judy nodded her heat.

"So, we've got someone who is stealing antlers now," Judy deduced. She then spoke with a hint of sarcasm. "There's something original."

"Yeah, some mammals take antlers for many reasons," Nick pointed out. "But, usually they're broken or sawed off by force, never sneakily sliced off while the victim is sleeping."

"Anyway, we'll need to tell Chief Bogo about this, because I have a feeling this is just the beginning," Judy theorised, which Nick agreed.

Judy then got out her phone to check the time.

"Well, this time would usually be when I get ready to head to work," Judy said as she put her phone away.

"Well, since we're already ready, how about some coffee?" Nick suggested.

"Are you forgetting that whenever rabbit's drink coffee, we get so hyper and crazy," Judy reminded him. "Remember what happened when I tried it? I was bouncing all over break room."

Nick chuckled at that memory, which caused Judy to punch him in the shoulder.

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the second chapter folks. For those who are wondering, I've did some research on antlers before writing this, but there's always the chance I've got something wrong.**

 **Anyway, next chapter is when the investigation begins. Till then.**


	3. Plasma?

**A.N. Hey folks, third chapter here. Here Nick and Judy will get started on their investigation.**

 **Please leave a review, enjoy.**

* * *

The next morning, down at the Precinct, Judy and Nick walked in through the front door and walked up to Clawhauser.

"Morning guys," Clawhauser greeted them cheerfully.

"Morning," Judy said to him.

"Morning Hauser," Nick said to the cheetah.

"Marcus told me what happened. Someone seriously cut off your neighbours' antlers?" Clawhauser asked.

"Pretty much, their reactions woke up the whole building," Judy said.

"Must've been a bad wake up call," Clawhauser asked.

"Believe me, it was," Judy said irritated.

"Anyway, Chief Bogo wishes to speak with the two of you in his office," Clawhauser informed them.

"Thanks, Clawhauser," Judy thanked the cheetah as she left.

"See ya buddy," Nick said as bit Clawhauser farewell.

Nick and Judy made their way to Bogo's office. They knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in," Chief Bogo said from the other side.

The two entered and sat down on a chair in front of Bogo's desk.

"So, let's recap," Bogo began to tell them. "Someone broke into your apartment building Hopps, breaks off a single antler from both of your neighbours, then sneaks away."

"Actually Chief, they were more sliced off," Nick corrected him.

"Not the time Wilde!" Bogo exclaimed to him, causing Nick to shut up.

"That's pretty much it sir," Judy confirmed.

"So now we have someone stealing antlers," Bogo declared.

"Pretty much sir, but why?" Judy asked.

"There are many reasons," Nick explained. "Some take antlers of those they hate as a trophy, or they take them as a sign of revenge."

"Whatever the reason is, I'm sure you two can get to work on figuring out who did it," Bogo declared.

"You can count on us sir," Judy reassured as she and Nick saluted him, which caused Bogo to smirk.

"I know you two can, dismissed," Bogo told them. Nick and Judy got off the chair and left the office.

Nick and Judy were now walking through the Precinct.

"So, what we do first?" Nick asked his partner.

"First, we're gonna see Marcus and see what he knows," Judy told him.

The two walked over to the forensics department to see Marcus, wearing a white lab coat, looking over the sliced window sill with a special ultraviolet light.

"Marcus?" Judy asked quietly. Marcus turned to see them standing at the door.

"Hey guys," Marcus greeted them.

"Anything you can tell us about the cut?" Nick asked.

"Well, when you put an ultraviolet light, you can see traces of plasma," Marcus explained as he showed them.

"Plasma?" the fox and rabbit duo asked confused.

"Plasma. I've heard talk that mammals tried to create plasma induced blades that could cut through anything. The tech is cutting edge, no pun intended," Marcus explained which made Nick and Judy a little less confused.

"Okay, so their using plasma to break in **and** cutting the antlers off," Judy concluded.

"So, maybe we could track the plasma?" Nick suggested.

"If anyone would know about it, it's our friend Dr Nathanial Kresser, he has the knowledge of different inventions that were created or been attempted to, in the last 20 years," Marcus explained.

"So you'll talk with Dr Kresser and see if he knows anything," Judy told Marcus.

"And we'll take a look around the crime scene to see if there's anything they missed," Judy announced.

"And talk to the residents or anyone who was outside," Nick continued.

"Got it," Marcus said in acknowledgement.

Nick and Judy left the lab.

* * *

They got into the cruiser and drove all the way to the Grand Pangolin Arts. They got out and walked up to the front door and just in front of them was an armadillo, wearing a purple shirt, red skirt, blue cardigan and glasses. She was the landlady, Dharma Armadillo.

"Hello Judy, and Officer Wilde," Miss Armadillo greeted them.

"Hi Darhma," Judy said to her.

"I heard what happened last night, how are they doing," Palma asked, concerned about Bucky and Pronk.

"They'll be fine," Judy reassured her.

"Well, fine as they used to be," Nick pointed out, which Judy and Darhma nodded in agreement.

"I can't believe this sort of thing happened in my building," Darhma said with a hint of guilt.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to find out who did it," Judy reassured her.

"Are there any security camera's here we could check out?" Nick asked.

"There aren't any security camera's in this building, but there are some outside cameras in the building just across the street," Darhma explained to them.

"You go next door and ask the owners if you could check cameras, I'll go ask the residents if they noticed anything," Judy told him, which Nick nodded in confirmation.

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the third chapter. Granted, there wasn't much to go on this chapter, but we'll have more.**

 **Also, Dr Nathaniel Kresser was introduced in my story, "Time and Time again."**

 **Till then readers.**


	4. Checking Footage

**A.N. Hello everyone, forth chapter here. Let's see how things go with the security cameras and if Judy gets anything.**

* * *

Nick went over to the shop next door. He walked in to see it filled with different fruits and vegetables. He walked up to the cashier to see a wolf, wearing a blue dress shirt and jeans, cleaning the counter.

"Excuse me good sir," Nick said, which caught his attention. Nick then showed him his badge. "Officer Nick Wilde, ZPD."

"Is there a problem officer?" the wolf asked.

"Last night, someone snuck into one of the apartments across the road," Nick explained to him. "Evidence showed he scaled the outside of the building and got in through the window. We've noticed you have camera's outside the store, so I was hoping to see if they caught a glimpse of what happened last night,"

"I'm the owner of this store, and that's no problem," the wolf said as he left the counter. "Follow me, please."

The wolf led Nick to the back of the store and into a room with a desk and a computer. The wolf sat down in the chair and started typing onto the keyboard.

"What time do you want it from officer?" the wolf asked.

"From yesterday from 9pm," Nick answered. The wolf typed in and pulled up the footage.

Nick then took over and started to fast forward the footage. Nothing interesting came up at first, but then something came up.

Nick stopped the fast forwarding to look at the footage. He a figure in black somehow floated down with rope attached to the. The figure then got onto the ground and pulled the rope down from the building. He then got into a car and drove off.

"Got a figure, let's see if there's a licence plate number," Nick said as he rewinds the footage. Once Nick got a look at the car, he zoomed in to look at the licence plate. But, he only saw the first three digits.

"4KL…" Nick said when he saw them. "Not the full licence number, but this is good enough." Nick then pulled out a memory stick and downloaded a copy of the footage onto it.

Once he was done, he took out the stick and turned to the wolf.

"Thank you for letting me have a look, this is good enough info," Nick thanked the wolf as he got off the chair.

"You're welcome officer," the wolf replied as they made their way to the front of the store. Just then, the wolf noticed something in the store. "No, don't put that there, that's not right at all, now it's ruined!"

"You get back to your work, sir," Nick encouraged the wolf.

"Thank you, Officer. You have a good day," the wolf said as he walked into his store, but he could still be heard. "You realise that's coming out of your payment!"

Nick rolled his eyes as he made his way across the street to see Judy standing outside the front door.

"Hey Carrots, how did questioning go?" Nick asked.

"Nothing good," Judy admitted with her ears down. "Everyone inside said they were asleep when it happened. I hope you have something good."

"Well, it's good enough," Nick said as he showed the memory stick.

They then hopped into the cruiser and drove back to the Precinct.

* * *

Once they arrived at the precinct, they made their way to the cubicle they shared together. Nick then put the memory stick in the computer and showed Judy the footage. After seeing the footage, she was impressed.

"So, he grappled up the wall," Judy said as she saw the footage. "Grappled up to Buck and Pronk's apartments and sliced open the window."

"That seems about it," Nick said.

"Did you see if you could get a licence plate number?" Judy asked hopefully, until Nick shook his head.

"I got three numbers, but not the whole plate," Nick explained as he zoomed into the plate number.

Judy looked at the numbers.

"Well, it's a good start," Judy said to Nick as she wrote down the numbers.

"Any word from Marcus about the device that was used to cut the antlers off?" Nick asked.

"I asked him, and he said he's still working on it," Judy answered. Nick then looked at the clock.

"Well, we'll ask him tomorrow once we get some rest," Nick suggested.

"You're right Nick," Judy agreed. "Let's go home and get some rest."

Nick and Judy left their cubicle and left the Precinct to return to their homes.

* * *

The next day, Nick and Judy met up in front of the precinct.

"Morning Carrots," Nick greeted her. "Slept well?"

"Slept great, because Bucky and Pronk are still getting checked out," Judy said as she stretched, which made Nick laugh.

The two walked into the precinct and walked up to Clawhauser's desk.

"Morning Hauser," Nick greeted him.

"Oh, thank goodness you two are here," Clawhauser said as he saw them.

"Why is that? Judy asked.

"Because it happened again," Clawhauser said.

"What?" Nick and Judy said in unison.

"Another deer had his antler cut off," Clawhauser informed them, much to their shock.

"What?!" Judy and Nick exclaimed.

"Actually, it's two deer's," Clawhauser corrected himself. "A Mr Manfred Hornell and his 19-year-old son, Kyle, woke up this morning to find that their antlers have been cut off, like what happened with Bucky and Pronk."

"Where are they now?" Judy asked the cheetah.

"They're in Chief Bogo's office waiting for you two," Clawhauser told them as he pointed to the right direction.

"Thanks, Hauser," Nick said as he and Judy walked off to Bogo's office.

They walked up to Bogo's office. They knocked on the door and, once given permission, entered.

They entered to see Bogo. Sitting across him was a deer, wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans, and a younger deer wearing a grey tank top, black dress shirt and jeans. Both these deer had only on antler. Next to them was a female deer wearing a white shirt, purple cardigan and jeans, and there was a little deer girl wearing a purple shirt and pink leggings.

"Hopps, Wilde, I think you know why you're here," Bogo said as they suggested to the deer family. "This is Manfred Hornell and his nineteen-year-old son Kyle. Next to them is Manfred's wife, Jessica, and their daughter eight-year-old daughter, Nia."

"Thanks for seeing us," Manfred said as he and the family shook their paws.

"So how did this happen?" Judy asked.

"Well, me and my wife woke up this morning to hear my son screaming from the bathroom," Manfred began to tell.

"I woke up early just use the bathroom." Kyle said. "When I got there and turned the light on, I noticed this," Kyle suggested to his antler.

"His scream woke us all up," Jessica continued her husband held her close. "When we saw him, we were all shocked, but then I noticed it happened to my husband as well."

"And, well I think you can guess the rest," Kyle said.

"Okay, did anything happen to you two yesterday, seen anything strange?" Judy asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary for me. And last night, we all went out for a meal because Kyle's visiting for the week from College," Manfred explained.

"How am I gonna face my friends like this," Kyle whimpered, which Nia got onto his lap and hugged him.

"I'm sure they'll grow back," Nick reassured them. "Deer antlers usually do."

"Did you notice anything yesterday?" Judy asked.

"Well, I just got home from college yesterday morning," Kyle explained. "Everything seemed normal."

"Is there anything else?" Judy asked the family.

"Nothing else, I'm afraid," Manfred said as Jessica held his hoof.

"Will you please help daddy and Kylie?" Nia asked with big eyes.

"Don't worry sweetheart," Nick reassured her. "The brave officers will solve this mystery."

"Thank you, Officers," Manfred said on behalf of his family.

The family then left the Precinct to leave Nick and Judy to their work. But one thing's for sure, the investigation is gonna be difficult.

* * *

 **A.N. Okay, now there are more victims. Now things are getting crazy, but there's still more to come.**

 **Till then folks ;)**


	5. A Famous Victim

**A.N. Hey readers, the fifth chapter is here. Now, there have been new victims of the Antler stealing spree. But, there will be one more victim, one that you probably know well.**

 **Also, the four animals in the chapter might be familiar to you readers, and I bet you can guess who they're based off of.**

 **I own nothing**

* * *

At the Precinct, Nick and Judy were going through their notes.

"So, we now have four victims that were deprived of their antlers," Nick summed up.

"That's about right," Judy confirmed. "Both times, the culprit went through the window and used some kind of plasma blade to cut off their antlers."

"So, we're looking for a guy with a light sabre," Nick joked, which caused Judy to roll her eyes.

"Come on, let's see if Marcus can give us anything," Judy suggested as she and Nick got up.

They walked over to Marcus' lab to see him typing on his laptop.

"Marcus?" Judy said getting his attention. "It happened again."

"I'm aware," Marcus said as he continued typing. "The circumstances are the same as the previous one."

"So, found anything out about the light sabre?" Nick asked, which caused Marcus to give him a weird look. "What? It's a sword that's made of plasma, so technically, it's a light sabre."

"That's something they say in the movies," Marcus said annoyed. "But, I talked with Dr Kresser and he said that years ago in an institute a few miles outside the city, they were working on the plasma blade to make cutting objects easier for construction, tree cutters, etc, but it was scrapped after an incident. The project was led by a Professor Peter Derril." An image of a Gazelle wearing a white lab coat appeared on the screen.

"Sounds like he's the guy to talk to," Nick said as he saw the image.

"Except, according to research he passed away a year ago," Marcus said.

"So much for that," Nick grumbled.

"But, there were two more mammals who helped with the project," Marcus said as he typed on the computer. He then printed of an image of an ocelot and coyote. "Timmy Ocel, and Jackson Yotil."

"So now we have to mammals to interview," Nick said.

"This is good info, Marcus," Judy said as she wrote it down.

The two left the lab and walked straight back to their cubicle.

"I bet one of these mammals might have some good info for us," Nick said as he saw the photos.

"We just need to find them," Judy told him.

They continued walking until a giant foot stomped in front of them, startling the two and making Judy drop the paper. They looked up to see Mchorn.

"Sorry about that, didn't see you there," Mchorn apologised to them.

"It's okay Mchorn, at least no one was hurt," Judy said as she picked up the paper.

Just as they turned around, Mchorn noticed the photo of the ocelot.

"Hang on, I know that ocelot," Mchorn said, which caught their attention.

"Wait, you know Timmy Ocel?" Judy asked.

"I know him as Dr T. Ocel. He's the pawdiatrist that scraped my mother's feet the other day," Mchorn said, which they remembered.

"I remember you saying that," Judy said with disgust.

"At least we know where to find him," Nick pointed out, which then Bogo approached them.

"Well, that will have to wait," Bogo said as he approached them. "The Hornell's weren't the only victims last night."

Behind Bogo was a wolf wearing a black suit with a blue tie.

"Trevor?" Nick and Judy said as they saw the wolf, whose name was Trevor.

"Hello officers," Trevor greeted them.

"Wait, if you're here, then?" Judy realised, as Trevor nodded his head in confirmation.

"Oh boy," Nick said, knowing what will happen next.

* * *

The officers were driving towards Sahara Square, where they pulled up against a mansion. They got out and walked into the mansion. They were greeted by four tigers, each wearing black trousers and each different coloured shirt, one blue, purple, red and orange.

"Leonard, Danny, Ralph and Michael," Nick said the tigers. "Where is she?"

"In there," Leonard motioned to the room next door.

Nick and Judy made their way over the room. Once they were there they saw a gazelle wearing a white blouse and black jeans and had bandages wrapped around her feet. But, she only had one horn. The gazelle was, **The famous** Gazelle.

"Oficial Hopps and Wilde," Gazelle said in delight. She then got up and hugged them. "Gracias for coming."

"We're happy to come," Judy reassured her. "Your manager told us everything, you just woke up this morning and your horn was gone?" Gazelle nodded in confirmation.

"I'm sure it will grow back," Nick reassured.

"Actually," Danny began to clarify. "Only antlers, which belong to the deer family, can grow back. Horns from the bovids family, I.E. Gazelles, cannot grow back if they're…" Ralph smacked Danny across the head just to shut him up.

"Not helping, Danny!" Leonard whispered to him.

"Dios mío! This is worse than when that stalker cut off my hair!" Gazelle whimpered. The tigers glared at Danny, which made him shrink.

"But, it's possible to put a replacement on it," Danny said, hoping to lift Gazelle's spirits.

"When I find the one who did this, I'm gonna pound him for what he did!" Ralph said as he punched his fists.

"Ralph, you already have a few accounts of battery, do you want to get in more trouble?" Judy asked the tiger, raising her eyebrow. The tiger sighed in defeat and shook his head, which made Judy satisfied.

"Now then, can you tell us anything about yesterday, any strange people approached you?" Judy asked as she got out her notepad.

"Yesterday was one of my easy days," Gazelle began to explain. "I went to the gym, had lunch with Trevor, and had a visit from my pawdiatrist…"

"Wait, your pawdiatrist?" Nick asked the superstar.

"Si, my zapatos where giving me blisters, so I had my pawdiatrist come around to take care of them," Gazelle explained as she indicated to the bandages around her feet. "I only wear them for show but…"

"Not the point. Your pawdiatrist, it wouldn't happen to be an ocelot named Dr T. Ocel?" Nick asked, which surprised gazelle.

"Yes, that's mi pawdiatrist," Gazelle confirmed.

"But what does he have to do with this?" Leonard asked.

"You're not the only one whose, uh, 'property', has been cut off," Judy explained. "Four deer's have had their antlers cut off in their sleep. Our CSI's have deduced that they were cut off by some type of plasma induced blade."

"So, they used a light sabre?" Michael asked.

"Told you it was a light sabre," Nick said with a smirk, which caused Judy to roll her eyes.

"Anyway, we found there was a project to produce these plasma blades, and of the mammals involved was a Timmy Ocel," Judy explained.

"Wait, Timmy Ocel? Mi pawdiatrist is Tommy Ocel," Gazelle told them.

"Tommy Ocel?" Both Nick and Judy exclaimed. Danny then came back in with a laptop and began typing into it.

"I've tapped into the footage from the outside camera's from yesterday," Danny said as he showed them the footage.

First, there was footage of a male ocelot, wearing a white dress shirt, slacks and blue tie and carrying a case, walking up to the mansion.

"That defiantly looks like the image of Timmy Ocel from the picture earlier," Nick suggested.

Danny then moved the footage to that night. There they saw a figure creeping across the lawn and another of the figure leaving.

"And that's all we got I'm afraid," Danny said.

"Well, it's something," Judy said as she put the notepad away. Danny then put the laptop down, still open.

"I'm glad you came oficiales," Gazelle said as she hugged them.

"Don't worry, we'll be sure to catch the perp who did this," Judy reassured her.

"Keep an eye on her?" Nick asked the tigers.

"Always!" the four said together.

But before Nick and Judy could leave, Nick noticed an image that appeared on the laptop screen.

"Say is that one of you guys in a hot tub? With Hyena Gomez!?" Nick said as he saw it.

Danny quickly reacted by closing the laptop hard.

"Nothing to see!"

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the forth chapter. Poor Gazelle, a famous celeb to be violated like that.**

 **As you probably can guess, the four tigers are based off the TMNT. I decided to add that in just for fun. I do not own them.**

 **Also, Hyena Gomez is based on Selena Gomez.**

 **And that whole thing about Gazelle being stalked, that was from VickeyT36's story Stalking Prey.**

 **Anyway, next chapter will see Timmy or Tommy Ocel and will learn more about him.**

 **So long.**


	6. A Trip to the Pawdiatrist

**A.N. Hey readers, this is the sixth chapter. Here the duo will question Dr Ocel, but they'll also get a surprise as well.**

 **The term, light sabre, belongs to the Star Wars franchise.**

 **Enjoy the story**

* * *

After leaving Gazelle's mansion, Nick and Judy drove to Savanah Central to talk with Dr Ocel.

"So, we just ask Dr Ocel whether he's Timmy, or Tommy Ocel, and what he knows about the blade and the antlers," Judy explained as she drove.

"Good thing we have a warrant," Nick said as he pulled out the paper.

They pulled in front of the clinic and walked inside. They approached a chinchilla receptionist sitting at a small desk on the bigger desk.

"Hi, ZPD, we're hoping to speak with Dr Ocel," Judy said as she and Nick showed off their badges.

"He's right over there," the chinchilla pointed in one direction.

There they saw an ocelot wearing blue nurse scrubs and white lab coat, carrying a few equipment. Nick and Judy approached him.

"Dr Ocel. Officer Hopps and Wilde, ZPD," Judy introduced herself and Nick. "We wish to ask you a few questions."

"Can it wait, I'm with a patient," Dr Ocel said as he walked to the office and opened the door.

"This will…" Judy was saying but stopped when she saw who was sitting in the patient seat. It was an elephant wearing a red sleeveless shirt and green skirt. It was their colleague Officer Francine Pennington. "Francine?"

Upon hearing that, Francine turned to them and was shocked. She quickly got off the chair and backed away.

"Nick, Judy! W-w-what're you two doing here?" Francine stuttered.

"We're here to question Dr Ocel, what're you doing here?" Nick asked. Francine tried to come up with an answer, but after observing the tools, Nick concluded. "You have a foot scraping, don't you?" Francine sighed in defeat.

"Yes, and I'm embarrassed about it," Francine admitted as she got back in the chair.

"Come on, can't be that bad…" Nick said, until he saw the soles of her feet. "Wow, okay maybe that bad."

That caused Judy to slap him on the arm. Judy then jumped onto the arm rest of the chair.

"Frankie, there's no need to be embarrassed. We're your friends," Judy comforted her.

"Thanks Judy," Francine said feeling better. "But still, can you please not tell the others?"

"Our lips are sealed," Judy promised. Nick then did a mouth zip sign. Francine was relieved.

"Now that's all settled," Dr Ocel said as he began to put on rubber gloves. He then turned to the duo. "Can you two please wait outside?"

Nick and Judy turned to Francine, which she nodded her head, telling them she'll be okay on her own.

"Sure thing, Doc," Nick said as he and Judy went out of the office.

Once they were outside, Nick and Judy leaned against the wall waiting. While they were waiting, they heard many noises. First a buzzing sound from a power tool, then they heard a spraying sound, then they heard Francine giggling, then heard her moaning.

"Do we even want to know how it works?" Judy asked.

"Best not to ask," Nick replied.

After a few more minutes, the door opened, and Francine walked out, now wearing special socks and shoes on her feet. Dr Ocel walked out behind her.

"Just keep those socks and shoes on for the rest of the day and use the cream I prescribed to you every night before bed for a week. If there are any changes, come back and see me," Dr Ocel advised her.

"Thanks doctor," Francine thanked him. She then turned to Nick and Judy. "And thanks for, not telling anyone about this."

"You're welcome," Judy replied.

"See you at the office," Nick said to her.

"Bye now," Francine said as she left.

Once Francine was gone, Nick and Judy turned to Dr Ocel.

"Now as we were saying," Judy began to say. "We came here to…" Judy was interrupted when she entered the room, and she got a smell of it and covered her nose. "Oh, that stinks!" Nick did the same, which caused Dr Ocel to chuckle.

"That's a common thing that happens after a foot scraping," Dr Ocel explained. He then opened an air duct and plugged in a special fragrance. He then escorted the duo out and closed the door behind him. He then escorted them to a different office.

"Now then, you wanted to ask me some questions," Dr Ocel said as he sat down at his desk.

"Yes. Firstly, are you Timmy, or Tommy Ocel?" Nick asked.

"I'm Tommy Ocel, Timmy Ocel is my identical twin brother," Dr Tommy Ocel explained.

"Oh, can you tell us where your brother is?" Judy asked hopefully.

"Tim moved to Chicagoat years ago, I haven't seen him since then," Tommy explained.

"Well, that rules him out," Nick realised.

"Did you know anything about the plasma blade your brother helped build?" Judy asked.

"You mean that light sabre?" Tommy asked, which made Nick give her a smug look.

"Is it really called a light sabre?" Judy asked.

"No, I just called it that. Timmy would whine saying, 'It's not a light sabre!'" Tommy explained. "But it really caused trouble a few years ago."

"How come?" Nick asked.

"Well, let's just say the reason my brother moved to Chicagoat was because he joined a community for mammals with severed limbs," Tommy explained, which shocked the duo.

"You mean?" Judy asked with surprise.

"The blade is the reason he has a prosthetic right arm," Tommy explained.

"Ouch," Nick said as he grabbed his arm, imagining what that could feel like.

"Sorry to hear that," Judy sincerely said to Tommy.

"It's okay," Tommy reassured them. "If anything, the accident was the reason he met his future wife."

"Glad to hear things turned out well for him in the end," Nick said.

"So, that rules both Timmy and Tommy Ocel out," Judy said as she thought. "Have you ever met your brother's co-worker, Jackson Yotil?"

"Jackie? I've met him a few times," Tommy explained. "He and my brother were good friends when they were working together."

"Do you know where he is?" Judy asked as she wrote down notes.

"Well, I know he works at that science lab in the Rainforest District," Tommy explained, and Nick instantly knew which one he meant.

"You mean Pan Labs?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, that's the one," Tommy remembered

"Well, this is good enough information. It appears we're done here," Judy said as she finished her notes. Judy and Nick got off their chairs.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with us," Nick said to Tommy.

"That's alright," Tommy replied. "And if you or your friends and family have foot problems, be sure to pop by."

"We'll keep that in mind," Judy replied as she and Nick left his office.

They walked out of the building and towards the cruiser.

"So, do you think Tommy could be the one?" Nick asked as they got in.

"I don't think so," Judy said. "Besides, what would he want with antlers? Who would go through the trouble for antlers and horns?"

"I'm not sure," Nick said. "But, mammals tend to do crazy things for reasons."

"Well, let's talk with Jackson Yotil and see if he can clear up anything," Judy said as she began to drive.

They drove for a few minutes in science, until Nick broke the silence.

"It was nice of Dr Ocel to offer future services," Nick said. "My grandmother could've used his services."

Judy simply rolled her eyes as she continued driving.

"You never mentioned your grandmother before," Judy realised.

"I haven't? Well, Nana Wilde was a lovely woman," Nick began to explain. "She would always bake cakes on our birthdays, would sew up our clothes. We'd even visit her house every month for a nice meal."

"She sounded lovely," Judy admitted.

"She was," Nick replied as he looked out the window. "Plus, if you or any of your relatives make an appointment with him, he'll be pretty lucky," Nick joked, due to the saying that rabbit's feet are luck, which caused Judy to smack him on the arm.

* * *

 **A.N. And that's the end of the sixth chapter. So, Nick and Judy learn Francine's secret and they know who to question next.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Also, on a serious note. That last bit, about Nick's grandmother, is dedicated to my Grandmother, who recently passed.**

 **Blue Tagg's Grandmother (1929 -2019, R.I.P)**


	7. A Scientific Update

**A.N. Hey folks, here's the seventh chapter. Sorry for the wait, had some things going on. Plus, had a bit of writer's block, but I'm all good. Anyway, Nick and Judy will question Jackson Yotil, and they will learn something interesting about the late Professor Derril.**

 **Please leave a review. Enjoy.**

* * *

The duo drove to the Rainforest District towards a big building. Once they arrived they hopped out of the cruiser and walked into the entrance. They walked up to reception where a female bushbuck was working.

"Hi, Officer's Hopps and Wilde, ZPD," Judy said as the two showed their badges. "We're here to speak with Jackson Yotil."

"He should be…" the bushbuck was interrupted by the sound of an explosion. "…that way," the bushbuck pointed down the hall.

Nick and Judy ran down the hall towards where the boom was heard. They ran up to a door which was producing smoke. Coming out of the door was a coyote wearing a blue t-shirt, jeans and a white lab coat and glasses. But, his clothes were covered in soot as well as his face. He was also carrying a remote control. He turned to the door looking heartbroken.

"My baby!" the coyote whimpered as he fiddled with the remote. Just then a lion came out of the room covered in soot as well.

"Well, that's another invention that went wrong!" the lion ranted to the coyote.

"You were the one who got impatient and turned it on before it was ready!" the coyote fired back.

"Well, if you haven't been such a sloth…" the lion continued until they were interrupted by a zebra in a lab coat coming in.

"Enough, both of you!" the Zebra exclaimed to the two. The zebra then noticed the two officers. "Oh, hello officers. Dr Robert Zeb. And those two are Jackson Yotil and Simon Rockell. Is there a problem?"

"Well, we came here to speak to Jackson Yotil," Nick explained.

"Me?" Jackson said to them.

"Officer Hopps and Wilde, ZPD," Judy introduced themselves. "We wish to talk to you about a project you were involved in a few years ago."

"Which project?" Jackson asked.

"Well, there have been a few robberies, if you'd like to call them that," Nick began to explain. "Evidence leads us to believe that the culprit is using the light sabre you helped develop with Professor Derril and Timmy Ocel." Jackson instantly knew what he meant.

"First of officer, it's not a light sabre! That's just stuff from the movies." Jackson corrected Nick. "Second of all, someone has it and is using it?"

"To remove the antlers and horns of mammals," Judy said, which surprised the trio.

"Remove antlers and horns?" Simon asked.

"Someone's using my old baby for that?" Jackson asked surprise and a hint of anger.

"You're baby?" Nick asked curiously.

"Jackson has a tendency to refer his projects as his is they were his children," Dr Zeb explained. He then turned to Jackson. "I remember you talking about that plasma blade. Frankly, I'm quite fascinated by it."

"Well, I for one, am glad it's not around," Simon said. "I mean, do you know the trouble it would cause? Just ask Timmy Ocel."

"We know what happened to Timmy's arm," Judy said.

"You do?" Jackson asked surprised.

"Yes, so what can you tell us?" Nick asked as Judy got out her notepad.

"Well, after Timmy's accident, the project was deemed too dangerous," Jackson began to explain. "But, Professor Derril kept the prototype blade."

"Did he say where it was?" Judy asked.

"No, he didn't say where it was." Jackson explained. "He only said he kept it in a hidden safe. And even if we knew where it was, it can't be opened without his old key-card, his hoofprint, and a pass-code he created."

"That seems a lot for a simple safe," Nick pointed out.

"The Professor didn't want anyone touching his work, and there was no way he would give it to anyone willingly," Jackson said.

"And with Professor Derril gone, we don't have any suspects," Judy said. "Did you know if he had any family or not?"

"Well, he did have a wife and son," Jackson said.

"Wife and son?" Judy asked. "Did you know who they are?"

"No, they became estranged," Jackson said. "They didn't even attend his funeral."

"Still, maybe they'll might know something," Judy suggested.

"Well, I think this is where we part," Nick said as Judy put her notepad away.

"Thank you for your time Mr Yotil," Judy thanked him.

"You're welcome Officer," Jackson replied. "And hopefully, you can put the jerk who stole the blade under lock and key."

"We will. And we'll retrieve that lightsabre as well," Nick promised, which made Jackson frown.

"It's not a light sabre!" Jackson whined, much to Nick and Simon's amusements. Dr Zeb then put his hoof on Jackson's shoulder to calm him down.

"Take care Officers," Dr Zeb said to the duo.

With that, Nick and Judy left the lab and headed towards the cruiser.

* * *

They drove back towards the precinct. When they entered, Clawhauser approached them.

"Nick, Judy, glad you're here," Clawhauser said as he approached them.

"Why's that?" Judy asked the overweight cheetah.

"It happened again," Clawhauser said, much to Nick and Judy's shock.

"What?" they both said.

"Four hours ago, a buffalo fraternity that were in their house together fell unconscious," Clawhauser explained. "And when they woke up, a single of their horns were gone."

"How did our thief knock them out?" Nick asked.

"One of the frat boys told us that they all had wine to celebrate getting good grades in college. Next thing they knew, they all fell unconscious, and woke up with a single missing horn," Clawhauser explained.

"Did forensics take a sample of the wine?" Judy asked.

"They did, and it contained a sleeping drug," Clawhauser confirmed. "And Marcus analysed the cut on the boy's horns, it's the same as the others."

"So now our Antler-Handler is secretly drugging mammals and stealing their horns in broad daylight," Nick summed up, which caused Judy and Clawhauser to look at him questionably.

"Antler-Handler?" Judy and Clawhauser asked.

"That's what I'm calling the thief," Nick answered. Judy simply rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, now it's getting personal for the Chief," Clawhauser said

"What do you mean?" Judy asked.

"One of the buffalo teens that had their horn's stolen was the chief's nephew," Clawhauser revealed, much to Nick and Judy's shock.

"His nephew?" Judy asked, which Clawhauser nodded in confirmation.

"Now the chief is going to be angry and demand we get the guy soon," Nick theorised.

Just then they heard Chief Bogo ranting loudly upstairs. They cringed as the shouting died down.

"Then we better get to work," Judy said as they quickly walked off to their cubical to continue with their investigation.

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the seventh chapter. So, now Nick and Judy have two possible suspects, and Bogo's now probably going to be stinking mad.**

 **Anyway, next chapter**


	8. A new suspect

**A.N. Hey folks, here's the eighth chapter of my story. Here the duo will meet up with the ex-wife of Professor Derril, and they will need to get her to talk.**

 **Sorry if this chapter's short, I had a bit of writer's block. Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

After receiving word on the thief's latest victims, Nick and Judy walked over to their cubical and did some research on Professor Derril's wife and son.

"Okay, it says that Professor Derril's former wife is a Cassy Letah," Judy discovered. Nick instantly knew that name.

"Cassy Letah? I know her," Nick said, which caused Judy to turn to him.

"How come you didn't tell me?" Judy asked.

"Because no one mentioned her name until now," Nick replied, which caused Judy to shrug as if saying, 'true.' "Anyway, She's a bartender in Sahara Square. And let me tell you, she's not the nicest gazelle lady."

"So, would she be like her to steal antlers?" Judy asked.

"She's known to hold grudges," Nick said. "But, she's a big fan of Gazelle's music, so I would find it hard to believe she would want to hurt her." Judy began typing on her computer, looking up information on Cassy Letah.

"Well, she has a few hate crimes against her, along with a few accounts of disorderly conduct and battery," Judy said as she looked up the info.

"You know what, know that I think about it, there were times where she talked about a good for nothing ex-husband. She sounded like she wanted nothing to do with him, but to use his light sabre, seems a little far 'fetched," Nick explained.

"Are still seriously calling it a light sabre?" Judy asked.

"Hey, it's a knife made of plasma, so it's technically a light sabre," Nick argued, which caused Judy to roll her eyes.

"Anyway, sounds like we should check in on her," Judy suggested.

"Actually, you might want to hold that thought," Marcus said as he approached them.

"What is it Marcus?" Judy asked the aardwolf.

"We scoped out the Frat boy house and we found a hidden camera in the bushes, don't ask why it was there, we don't know. Anyway, we had a look and…" Marcus then plugged a memory stick into the computer.

It then showed a car pulling up to the front. Then a shadowy figure getting out of a car and walking towards the house. It later showed the figure walking back towards the car and getting in and driving off. Nick and Judy then looked at the licence plate and saw the number.

"4KLY54," Judy said as she saw it. She then ran the plate in the system, which came up with some info.

"Let's see, the car belongs to…" Judy found out who it was. "Cassy Letah, this proves it. This proves she's our Antler-Handler." Nick then looked at her with a smirk. "Okay, the name's growing on me."

"Except, she had her licence revoked two years ago after a few cases of driving drunk, it was a miracle no one was hurt at all at any of them," Nick explained. "And plus, if you look at the video, the figure doesn't have any horns at all, and Cassy has long horns."

"Still, she should be brought in and questioned," Judy explained. Nick nodded in agreement.

* * *

After the two got a warrant, Nick and Judy drove all the way to Sahara Square towards a pub.

"Haven't been to this place in a while," Nick said to himself as the two walked in.

Inside they saw a few mammals just having drinks and watching a football game on the TV.

"This place brings back memories," Nick admitted as they walked through the bar.

They approached the bar counter where the saw a female gazelle wearing a white dress shirt and jeans cleaning the surface of the counter. She had a grump look on her face.

"Cassy Letah," Nick said to gain her attention, which it did.

"Nick Wilde, long time, no see," Cassy said as he saw him. "So, you're a cop now, oh goody," she said with sarcasm.

"Cassy, we need to bring you in for questioning," Nick said.

"Look, I did my time. What more do you want!?" Cassy exclaimed, which caught someone's attention.

"What's going on here?" Approaching them was a Dingo wearing a red dress shirt and jeans. Nick instantly recognised him.

"Toby Dinnel," Nick said with a smile as he saw the dingo.

"Nick Wilde, good to see you again," Tobey said as he saw him and shook his paw. "Cop now I see. Good for you.

"Thanks," Nick said. He then turned to Judy. "Carrots meet Tobey Dinnel, the owner of this bar."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr Dinnel," Judy greeted him.

"Please, call me Tobey," Tobey said to her. "Now, what's going on here?"

"We came here to bring Cassy Letah in for questioning," Judy told him.

"What for?" Tobey asked.

"There have been a few thefts the last few days, and at one of them, a camera caught the licence plate of the perp's car, it was registered to you," Judy explained.

"What, I don't drive anymore," Cassy said casually.

"Let's talk out the back?" Dinnel asked.

"Sorry Mr Dinnel. But we need take her to the precinct for questioning," Judy suggested.

"Well, is it alright if I tag along so I can vouch for her," Tobey requested.

"Very well, maybe you can help us," Judy answered.

After convincing Cassy to do it and Tobey leaving someone in charge, Nick, Judy, Cassy and Tobey made their way towards the ZPD.

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the eight chapter and again, sorry it was a bit short. Anyway, the next chapter should bring to light about who's behind the thefts of the antlers.**

 **Till next time.**


	9. Figuring out the culprit

**A.N. Hey reader's, this is the ninth chapter. Sorry for the wait, had other things to do. Here, we figure out who the real Antler-Handler is.**

 **Please leave a review, enjoy.**

* * *

At the Precinct, in an interrogation room. Cassy and Tobey sat at the end of a table while Nick and Judy sat at the other end. Cassy just sat there with her arms crossed.

"Now, Miss Letah, you are being suspected for four counts of theft, due to the fact that your car was at each crime scene," Nick explained.

"Well, I don't drive anymore because my license was taken," Cassy said to them.

"It's true, she usually catches the subway home," Tobey said to them. He then got out his phone. "Plus, I have security footage from the bar when Cassy was working."

Nick and Judy look at the footage to specific dates and times. They showed Cassy working at those times.

"Well, this does give you an alibi," Judy confirmed.

"Good, can I go now," Cassy rudely asked, which earned her a glare from Tobey.

"Not yet, there's more," Nick began. "The thief is also using a device that was created by your late ex-husband."

"Ugh, that man," Cassy said with disgust. "Of course, it would involve him."

"You really don't like him that much?" Judy asked.

"What was I thinking marrying him," Cassy began. "He was more focused on his work than me. I'm glad he's gone."

"Cassy, that's not a nice thing to say," Toby warned her.

"Did you ever meet Professor Peter Derril?" Judy asked Toby.

"I've known Pete since he was 18," Toby began to say. "He used to tutor my nephew who was in the 5th grade, for the **third** time. I kept in touch with Pete, soon he became like part of the family. I was the one who introduced Pete and Cassy to each other."

"You seem pretty close to the family," Judy asked.

"Yes. I was the one who got them married," Tobey said.

"Worst mistake of my life," Cassy said all moody.

"Cassy, this is the kind of attitude that led you to losing your husband **and** son," Tobey pointed out.

"Their son?" Nick asked.

"Anthony Derril," Tobey said. "When Peter and Cassy divorced, she didn't want Anthony to go near him, but he did. Once Cassy found out, she disowned him, called him a traitor." Judy then glared at Cassy.

"I can't believe you'd do that to your own son!" Judy exclaimed to Cassy.

"He was a traitor for seeing him," Cassy said to the officers. The officers just stood their shocked by her response, until Tobey spoke again.

"Anyway, after that, Anthony went to live with his dad," Tobey began to explain. "The two had a loving relationship. That was, until…"

"Until what?" Judy asked.

"Five years ago, there was an incident, it caused one of his horns to break off," Tobey explained, and that instantly got Nick and Judy thinking.

"His horn broke off?" Nick asked.

"Yes. He asked his father to use his knowledge to help him get it back on, but Peter said he couldn't because it wasn't in his field of expertise. Anthony felt angry and hurt because his father couldn't help him and walked out on him," Tobey told them. Nick and Judy were shocked when they heard that.

"I can't believe he would do that," Judy said shocked.

"Well, Pete took it hard. He tried to talk to Anthony and get him to talk to people who could help him, but Anthony refused any help that came from his dad. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen to me either. Soon after, Pete tried to distract himself with his work, but that didn't help. Four years later, he was gone from a fire," Tobey explained, which caused Nick and Judy to look at each other in sorrow.

"Don't get like that, he was a loser," Cassy said, which pushed Judy's buttons.

"Look miss…!" Judy exclaimed, but Nick held her back.

"Could you excuse us for a moment please?" Nick asked as he escorted his partner out of the interrogation room.

"Ugh, I can't believe that women would thing so low of her husband and son," Judy ranted, but Nick then picked her up and shook her.

"Carrots, calm down!" Nick told her. "I know she's pushed your buttons, but you need to keep a level head."

Judy took his advice and calmed down a bit.

"You're right, I'm calm," Judy reassured him. She then noticed that he was still carrying her. "Could you put me down now?"

"Oh, sorry," Nick said as he put her down. "Also, who knew bunnies were so light."

Judy scowled at that comment.

"Anyhow, you heard the story, Anthony lost his horn. Which would give him the motive to steal the antlers, to make others feel the same way he did," Nick theorised.

"And since he was close to his dad, he would probably know where the safe containing the blade was," Judy pointed out.

"And since he's Cassy's son, he probably has her old car as well," Nick concluded.

"Which means…" Judy realised, as she and Nick looked at each other in realisation.

"Anthony Kresser is the Antler-Handler!" They both said at the same time.

* * *

After sending Cassy and Tobey away, Nick and Judy went to their cubical to do some research on Anthony Kresser.

"Okay, so Anthony does have ownership of his mom's car," Nick said while still typing.

"He attended Zootopia University, but dropped out a year ago, a month after his dad passed," Judy said.

"And he was working at a convenient store, but was fired three months ago, and he's living at his dad's old house in the Savannah Central," Nick found out.

"So, we have our guy?" Judy asked.

"Seems like it, but let's go to his house and have a look round first, just to be sure," Nick suggested.

After getting a warrant, the duo drove to Anthony Derril's house.

* * *

 **A.N. And that was the ninth chapter folks. Nick and Judy have gone to investigate their new suspect, but what will be in store for them?**

 **Ta for now**


	10. The Antler-Handler

**A.N. Hey folks, Blue Tagg here with the tenth chapter. Here, the duo finally encounters the infamous "Antler-Handler."**

 **Also, there will be slight bit of nudity at the end, so I hope I've made it a bit appropriate as possible.**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

Nick and Judy made their way toward Anthony Kresser's house. They pulled up to the house, which looks a little run down.

"Geez, this place could use a bit of a fixer-upper," Nick said as he saw the house.

Nick and Judy approached the front door and knocked on it. They waited for a bit but now one came. They knocked again.

"Anthony Kresser, ZPD. We wish to talk!" Judy called out, in hopes of him hearing her, but no one came.

Nick then turned to see next door, a lady leopard, wearing a purple shirt with a white collar, blue jeans, a green gardener's apron and a sun hat, planting some flowers while humming to herself. Nick approached her.

"Excuse me ma'am?" Nick asked, which caught her attention.

"Yes officer?" the leopard asked.

"Do you know if Anthony Kresser is in, we'd like to have a word with him," Nick asked her.

"I saw him enter five minutes ago. And I've been gardening here for an hour now, he hasn't left the house," the leopard explained.

"Is there a back entrance?" Judy asked as she came forward.

"No, that's the only way in and out," she explained. "What do you need to speak to Anthony for?"

"He's become a prime suspect in a series of thefts," Nick explained.

"Oh my. Though, now that I think about it, he's always been shady," the leopard explained.

"How so, miss?" Nick asked, not knowing her name.

"Spottel, Reese Spottel," the leopard introduced herself.

"What can you tell us," Judy asked.

"Me and my family have lived here for two years now," Reese explained. "Back then his father, Peter Kresser, lived here. He was a nice person to us. But then he passed away." Reese seemed sad about that.

"A few months after, his son moved in, but he's always been too shady, never greeted us, even stepped on my flowers without saying sorry," Reese said, sounding ticked at that last part.

"Well, if he's in, he's not responding," Judy said.

"Well, Peter told me where he kept a spare key," Reese said as she walked over to a rock in front of the house. She then flipped it to reveal a key.

"This is perfect thank you," Nick said as he took the key off her.

"Your welcome officer," Reese replied.

Just then they heard a baby crying. Reese chuckled as she instantly knew what that meant.

"Sounds like a certain young man just woke up from his nap," Resse chuckled as she heard the crying.

"We'll let you go," Judy said. "Thanks for the help. And, I recommend you and your family lock your door and stay inside for the time being.

"Will do officers," Reese replied. With that, Reese made her way to her house and locked the door.

"Alright Fluff, let's get our Antler-Handler," Nick said to his partner, but Judy stopped him.

"Wait, are you sure this is okay?" Judy asked.

"Well, we have a key and a warrant, so it's not breaking in," Nick pointed out with a smile, which made Judy roll her eyes.

The two then walked up toward the front door and opened it (despite it being only able to reach it by Judy standing on Nick's shoulder's,) and entered.

They looked around to see no one was inside.

"Anthony Kresser, we know you're in here!" Judy called out. "We just want to talk!"

Just then, Nick notices a door creaking open. He motions Judy to keep quiet as he quietly approaches the door. With his dart gun at the ready, he opens the door to find it empty and dark.

He and Judy enter the room and, using a flashlight, they see something surprising and that confirmed their theory; the antlers and horns of the victims.

"Those are the horns and antlers of all the victims," Judy said as she saw the antlers of Bucky and Pronk, and Manfred and Kyle Hornell. And then she saw Gazelle's horn and the horns of the buffalo students.

"This confirms it. Anthony Derril is our Antler-Handler," Nick said, knowing they have their perp.

Just then, the door behind them closed, leaving the two in the dark.

"You know it's not nice to intrude into other people's home's," a voice said to them. Just then, a green glowing light in the shape of a triangle appeared before. That light revealed the face of a gazelle. "And I hate the name 'Antler-Handler'."

At that moment the light's turned on. And in front of them was a young adult gazelle, wearing a black hoodie and jeans. What strikes their attention is that he has no horns at all on his head.

"Anthony Kresser, I presume?" Nick asked.

"At your service," Anthony said as he mockingly bowed.

"Anthony Kresser, you're under arrest for the theft of all these antlers and horns!" Judy declared as she and Nick held up their dart guns.

"I don't think so, because I'm the one carrying the light sabre," Anthony said as he waved the blade around a bit.

"Looks a bit small to be a light sabre. Seems more like Light-Knife," Nick pointed out, which earned him a glare from Judy.

"Whatever," Anthony said without a care.

Anthony then lunged at them with the intend of slicing them with the blade. Nick and Judy dodged the swipes.

"Anthony, I understand how your need to make others feel the way you did when you lost your horns," Judy tried to reason with him.

"Ha, don't play that card with me," Anthony replied. "My own mother ditched me, I lost my horn, my father refused to help, then I lose my other horn!"

"Your father tried to get you help, it's you who refused it," Nick pointed out.

"It's too late for that!" Anthony said as he lunged at Nick.

Anthony tried to slice Nick across the chest, but he missed. But Nick looked down to see that his tie was sliced off.

"Oh, now you've done it!" Nick said as he glared at him.

Anthony charged at Nick again and dried to slice him, but Nick kept blocking and dodging.

Anthony then turned his attention towards Judy. He kept trying to slice her, but Judy kept dodging.

Nick then saw an opening and, grabbing his dart gun and aiming at Anthony, he shot a dart and it hit Anthony in the wrist of the hand he was holding the knife.

"Oh no," Anthony said as he dropped the knife and fell unconscious. Nick then approached an unconscious Anthony and cuffed his wrists.

"Anthony Kresser, you're under arrest for theft. Anything you say can and will be used against…" Nick declared but stopped when he saw Judy.

"What?" Judy asked, when she saw her partner looking at her.

"Uh, Carrots, look down," Nick said as he just stared.

Judy looked down to see shreds of clothing at her feet. She then looked at her body, to see that Anthony did cut something off.

"Eeeep!" Judy shrieked as she tried to cover herself.

Nick then took off his shirt and threw it to Judy, who used it to cover herself. Nick then looked away as he got out his radio.

"This is Officer Wilde, we caught the guy who's been stealing the antlers and horns, could we get some backup? Also, could you bring some spare clothes for Officer Hopps?" Nick asked in the radio as he looked at the embarrassed rabbit.

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the tenth chapter. Nick and Judy managed to catch the Antler-Handler, but boy, Judy must've been humiliated.**

 **Anyway, the next chapter will be the last, till then Mi Amigos. ;)**


	11. Antler-Handler Captured

**A.N. Hey folks, Blue Tagg here with the final chapter of this story. Here we conclude the case with the duo's victory, (and Judy's embarrassing moment).**

 **Anyway, here's the last chapter.**

* * *

The ZPD arrived and took away Anthony and they collected all the antlers and horns that were stolen. Nick was looking at his sliced off tie.

"That gazelle owes me a new tie!" Nick said, sounding peeved.

"That's not all he owes!?" Nick heard Judy as he turned to her.

Judy was now wearing a blue T-shirt with ZPD written on it and a pair of black sweatpants. Judy was currently holding some of the shreds of her uniform.

"That gazelle owes me a new uniform!" Judy said with anger.

Just then, Chief Bogo arrived.

"You can get a new uniform Hopps," Bogo said to her. "Just be thankful your badge wasn't sliced."

"Yeah, that's a good thing," Judy said as she took out her badge from her pocket.

"Plus, you have two more spare's back at your place," Nick reminded her.

"Still, that was the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me!" Judy

"Worse than…" Nick said but Judy interrupted him angrily.

"You better not bring that up!" Judy warned him with an angry look on her face.

"Anyway, you've caught the guy. Well done you two," Bogo complimented them, which made them feel proud.

After grabbing the antlers and horns, the officers made their way back to the precinct.

* * *

The officers returned to the precinct, where they approached Clawhauser at the front desk.

"I take it you caught the guy?" Clawhauser asked.

"Yep, Anthony Kresser was our Antler-Handler," Nick confirmed.

Clawhauser then noticed Judy's different clothing.

"Hey Judy, what happened…" Clawhauser was asking, but Judy interrupted him.

"I don't want to talk about it," Judy warned Clawhauser, which made him quiet.

They watched as Anthony Kresser was escorted through the Precinct. Just then, Anthony was approached by Toby Dinnel.

"Hey Anthony," Tobey greeted the Gazelle.

"Tobey!" Anthony spat at the dingo.

"What would your father say if he saw you now?" Tobey asked.

"He never cared about me, he never helped me," Anthony argued.

"Your father loved very much! He may not have been able to help you, but he found others who would help you, you just turned that away," Tobey argued.

Anthony said nothing as the officers took him away. Tobey just sighed in disappointment as he watched. Nick walked over to Tobey and gave him a comforting paw.

"You did all you could Tobe. I'm sure the prison psychiatrist would get through to him," Nick reassured him.

"You're right. Plus, I don't plan to give up on the kid as well," Tobey said with determination.

"That's what I like to hear," Nick said to Tobey.

"Hola oficiales," they heard a Spanish voice behind them.

Just then, they turned to see Gazelle and the four tigers walking up to them. That caused Clawhauser to faint.

"Gazelle, what are you doing here?" Judy asked.

"Chief Bogo told me that you caught the one who cut off my horn and recovered it," Gazelle said.

Nick then left for a moment and came back with Gazelle's horn.

"Mi horn!" Gazelle said as she took it and hugged it. "Gracias officers."

"Just doing our job," Judy declared. "So, what's going to happen now?"

"Well, now that we gotten the horn back, doctors can use a special glue to glue the horn back on the spot where it was cut off," Danny explained.

"Oh good. I was worried about not getting another Hornicure again," Gazelle said.

"It may leave a small cut on the horn, but you can cover that up," Danny explained.

That got Nick thinking.

"How come Anthony refused that same treatment after his horn came off?" Nick asked Tobey.

"It wasn't that simple," Tobey began to explain. "His horn was smashed to pieces, so they couldn't really glue it back on like that."

"But, you said Professor Derril would get help for him," Judy reminded him.

"He knew people who were trying to replicate a gazelle horn in cases of Anthony's situation," Tobey explained. "Peter thought Anthony will put on the first horn they created. It's a good thing Anthony refused, because I heard that the Gazelle who got the first horn from the machine, his new horn melted after one shower."

That made the others shiver.

"That doesn't sound good at all," Nick said, which the others agreed.

"It wasn't. I heard it took the gazelle a whole year to get the stain out of his fur," Tobey told them.

"Talk about a fine mess," Nick joked, much to Judy's eye roll.

"Anyway, they have successfully improved the artificial horn," Tobey said.

"Well, that's good to hear. I'm sure it'll help others," Judy pointed out.

Just then, they heard someone walk towards them. They turned to see Jackson Yotil walking toward them.

"Jackson Yotil?" Judy asked when she saw him.

"What're you doing here?" Nick asked the coyote.

"I heard that you captured Anthony Kresser and recovered the blade," Jackson explained.

"Yes, we've managed to apprehend Anthony and recovered your precious baby," Nick said as he joked on that last part.

"Thank goodness it's out of the wrong paws now," Jackson said in relief.

"But, we'll have to keep it in ZPD lockup," Judy told him, which made Jackson sigh.

"Very well, it's better this way," Jackson said in agreement.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure no-one takes the light sabre," Nick joked.

"For the last time! It's not a…" Jackson tried to retort, but then had an epiphany. "Oh, who am I kidding, it is a light sabre!"

That made everyone in the room laugh.

* * *

Once everyone left, Nick and Judy were left by themselves in their cubical.

"And another crazy case bites the dust," Nick said as he was filling out the forms.

"Yes, another crazy case," Judy agreed with Nick.

"But not as crazy as…" Nick was saying, but Judy warned him.

"I told you not to bring that up!" Judy warned him, which made Nick chuckle.

They continued to fill out the paperwork, until Nick spoke again.

"You know Carrots, we're not working tomorrow, and our shift is nearly over. So maybe…" Nick asked, sounding flirty. Maybe, we can have a fox and bunny night."

"That sounds, like a wonderful idea," Judy responded.

Just then, they heard Mchorn talking, which peaked their curiosity. They walked over to him.

"Danial, what's going on?" Judy asked.

"Some cow has gone berserk at the Camela Cinema," Mchorn explained, which instantly got Nick thinking. "He's going around, swinging stuff around constantly saying, 'cockadoodle doo, the cow says moo'."

"What day is it today?" Nick asked.

"It's Monday," Mchorn explained.

"Which means some idiot scheduled Crazy Steve to work on a Monday," Nick summed up.

"Oh no," Judy said.

* * *

 **A.N. Well, that was the final chapter of Antler-Handlers, I hope you all enjoyed it.**

 **I'm pretty sure some of you can guess where that situation at the end comes from.**

 **And for those who're wondering what was more embarrassing then what happened for Judy that she refuses to for it to be brought up, figure it out yourselves.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the story, there are more stories from me to come.**

 **Best regards**

 **Blue Tagg**


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